Marita Noon - An exhaustive review of350+ pages of leaked emailsregarding the Obama administration’s handling of the various green-energy loan and grant programs makes several things very clear: theylied, engaged in favoritism, and rushed application approvals to suit the political agenda of the White House. At the same time, worthy projects that went through a complete due diligence process were denied or ultimately withdrawn, as the lengthy approval process “taxed investors’ patience”—as was the case with Aptera Motors, which worked closely with the DOE for two years.

Paul Wilbur, President and CEO at Aptera, didn’t think they were treated unfairly. He told me, “At the end of the day, we couldn’t get through the process.” But, he admits, he hasn’t read the emails.

Aptera was trying to build a very efficient electric vehicle with an under $30K price point. Wilbur met with Secretary Chu who could see the value in the technology. But our research shows that value was not the deciding factor in which projects got funded and which ones didn’t. Wilbur reports that he didn’t donate to any candidate. He wanted to keep the whole process clean and do what was “good for America.” Read More News New Mexico

DOE corruption—appointed and elected officials should face prison time

A new study finds rustic home sites
in the mountains east of Albuquerque and in
rural Santa FeCounty are adding to the number of people
infected with plague.

The study co-authored by state public health veterinarian
Paul Ettestad blames a trend that has seen affluent families building homes in
areas rodents once had to themselves for changing the distribution of plague in
New Mexico
since the 1980s.

The Albuquerque Journal reports the disease was previously
most common in low-income communities in the northwestern part of the state.

The
study was published earlier this year in the journal Emerging Infectious
Diseases.

A former mayoral candidate in a
troubled New Mexico
border town plagued by voter fraud and a secret topless dance video is still
fighting to overturn election results eight months later.

Gerardo Hernandez
says the results were so tainted that they cost him the election. He says he
has found 158 absentee envelopes that should have been rejected. But Dona Ana
County Chief Deputy Clerk Mario Jimenez says the evidence Hernandez has is
incorrect.

Hernandez lost the SunlandPark mayoral race to
Daniel Salinas, who was unable to take office after he was arrested in
connection with trying to get Hernandez to quit the race by secretly recording
him getting a lap dance.

Hernandez is waiting on a hearing in district court to
plead his case.

The
company's peanut processing and peanut butter plant has been shuttered since
the recall in September. Coburn said Friday the peanut processing part of the
company's operations were being readied to restart.

The company denied
allegations in an FDA report released this month that it distributed peanut and
almond butters even after testing showed the products were contaminated.

The administration of former Gov.
Bill Richardson pushed ahead with a computer upgrade at the state's Motor
Vehicle Department despite knowing the prime contractor allegedly lacked a
proven track record in the field.

Records obtained by the Albuquerque Journal
show Hewlett-Packard was awarded the 2010 contract to revamp the MVD system
even after lawyers for contract rival 3M warned the state that HP didn't have a
proven track record in the field.

The administration of now-Gov. Susana Martinez cancelled the
deal last year after the state spent $5 million on the project and fired HP.

Now
the state is trying to figure out how to improve a system described in 2005 as
one of the worst in the country.

Heather Wilson says she's
probably run her final race for elective office.

The former Republican
congresswoman lost a bid for a New
Mexico seat in the U.S. Senate on Nov. 6. She tells
the Albuquerque Journal in an interview she wishes the results were different
but doesn't think she can ask her husband to deal with another campaign. The
51-year-old also says she thinks she's "done her time."

Wilson says she wants to
look for leadership opportunities in the private sector to achieve some of the
economic development goals she had hoped to accomplish in Congress.